Machine for marking strips of gummed labels and the like



F. C. GEILER Dec. 14, 1954 MACHINE FOR MARKING STRIPS OF GUMMED LABELS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 13, 1950 ,1 rr xnfys Dec. 14, 1954 F. c. GEILER 2,696,784

MACHINE FOR MARKING STRIPS OF GUMMED LABELS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1950 4 Sheets-Shee 2 IN VEN TOR.

,4 rranuiy Dec. 14, 1954 F. c. GEILER 2,

MACHINE FOR MARKING STRIPS 0F GUMMED LABELS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1950 4 Shets-Sheet s INVEN TOR. W a 24k wme@w+ Dec. 14, 1954 F. c. GEILER MACHINE FOR MARKING STRIPS OF GUMMED LABELS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 15, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 BY W 7 dled lengths.

' marking or other indicia.

MACHINE FOR MARKING STRIPS OF GUMMED LABELS AND THE LIKE Frederick C. Geiler, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to The Monarch Marking System Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 13, 1950, Serial No. 138,375

2 Claims. (Cl. 101--292) This invention is directed to improvements in marking machines of the type utilized for printing and dispensing strips of gummed labels and the like. The present machine is also adapted to handle other types of marking tags or tickets. However, for the purposes of this disclosure, the other types are neither shown nor described inasmuch as the improvements to which this invention is directed concern only the gummed label operation of the machine.

The gummed labels which the present machine is designed to operate on are provided by the manufacturer in rolled form, each roll containing several thousand;

labels made up in a continuous strip or ribbon. At the time when the labels are being affixed to goods, it has been found that it expedites the operation to handle the labels in strip form and tear off each label as it is applied; that is, by first aifixing the end label of the strip to the article to be marked and then tearing the strip from this label. To facilitate tearing, score lines are provided between labels, these lines being the weak points in the strip.

In United States Patent No. 2,271,840, a hand cranked marking machine is disclosed. In this machine and others provided in the past, the strips of labels are dispensed onto a table or into a container in continuous ribbon form, and it can be seen that if a long run of identical labels were required, the strip would be rather inconvenient to handle. In a hand cranked machine, it is customary to simply stop the operation of the machine and tear off sections of the strip into conveniently han- The operation of this type machine consequently is rather slow and, of course, needs the constant attention of an operator. The hand cranked model is satisfactory where only a few labels are required at a time; however, for large volume operation, such as is required in large department stores, an automatic machine is preferable.

One of the objects of the present invention has been to provide an automatic marking machine for printing and dispensing strips of gummed labels which can be operated at a much higher rate of speed than has been possible heretofore. In the improved machine, means is provided for re-rolling the strip of labels as it is dispensed from the issue end of the machine, thus making it convenient to handle long runs of labels.

On its face, the problem of rolling up a strip as it is being dispensed from any sort of machine does not seem to be particularly difiicult. However, in this particular art, the strips of labels are not only fed through the machine in intermittent advances, but the feed stroke of the machine varies with different sizes of gummed labels. As the labels pass through the machine, feed fingers engage in feed notches between individual labels in the strip, and the strip advances a distance equal to that between notches, each label in turn being presented to a printing station where each label is impressed with price Thus, in order to re-roll the printed labels, the wind-up mechanism first must be adapted to compensate for the changing diameter as the roll on the wind-up spool increases in size. Second, it

. must be adapted to compensate for the different lengths of labels, because in the intermittent feed, long labels advance in any one feeding stroke a distance greater than short labels. The wind-up mechanism must also maintain a positive tension on the strip as it is being wound onto the spool, however, the tension cannot be so great '1 that it breaks the strip at the score lines.

2,696,784 Patented Dec. 14, 1954 Increasing the rate of operation of the machine also presents another problem. Since the labels are provided initially in roll torm and have been unreeled directly from this roll in-the past by the intermittent advancing motion of the feed fingers, increased speed under these operating conditions tends to cause breakage of the strip between the feed fingers and the roll. At times, humidity conditions are such that the gum on the labels becomes tacky which makes it rather ditlicult to unroll the strip easily. A more diflicult situation arises when high humidity merely causes spots in the roll at which the strip is difficult to peel, these spots alternating with runs in which the roll strips out easily. The feed fingers engage in rather narrow notches in the strip and consequently if while operating at a high rate of speed an obstruction to the smooth unreeling of the l'Oll is encountered, a sudden jerk results which causes the feed fingers to tear through the material of the strip at the teed notch. The material of the gummed labels is rather thin and, unlike the material used in heavier marking tags, is easily torn. Also with the intermittent reed constantly erking directly on the roll of labels, the roll at times overtravels in its unwinding motion, thus feeding off a loop into the strip which when taken up by the reed finger mechanism invariably results in another sudden jerk on the roll. Thus, the erking and slackening of the strip can follow in a cycle, and in a large roll having considerable inertia, breakage of the strip occurs sooner or later. This problem was not too critical with the hand cranked model referred to above because of the slow operation of that machine. A drag or some other frictional element has been suggested in order to stop the overtravel but these elements simply place a greater tensional force on the strip, thus increasing the chance of the strip tearing out at the feed finger notches or breaking at the scored lines or weakening. In the improved machine, an automatic stripper is provided for the roll of gummed labels, the stripper creating a slack loop of material in'the strip between the roll and the feed fingers. The creation of the loop is coordinated with the motion of the feed fingers so that the feed fingers draw only on the slack and never directly on the roll of labels. In the operation of the machine, the timing of parts is such that the feed fingers must make the advance of the strip in a very short time. Thus, the movement must be fast. However, even though the stripper mechanism is coordinated with the movement of the feed fingers, its movement in the present machine is fairly slow. Thus, the strip is peeled from the roll slowly and positively without possibility of overrun of the roll.

in the improved machine, both the stripping action and the rewind operation are coordinated with the printing operation so that both the wind-up and stripping occur at a time in the cycle of the machine when the printing head is down on the strip holding it against endwise displacement. It is critical that the position of the feed notches in the strip relative to the feed fingers is not changed between feed strokes so that after each stroke the notch to be engaged next is correctly positioned to receive the fingers. if the strip were retracted by the stripper, the same label might be printed twice, or if the strip were advanced by the wind-up mechanism, a blank label might result.

The invention, therefore, concerns in particular a combination of three elements, a stripper, a wind-up 1nech anism, and a printing head, the operations of which are coordinated with the intermittent advancing motion of the strip. The present machine, incorporating these elements, is capable of dispensing strips at a greater rate of speed than has been possible heretotore. In addition, on a long run of labels having identical indicia, the present machine can be turned on and, having an automatic shutoff counter, can be left unattended during the run oif, the strip being wound up as it is dispensed in a form convenient to handle.

There are other advantages and features of the improved machine and these with other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the drawings in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view of a marking machine embodying the improvements. In this figure, the

the machine disclosed here.

'of the drawings.

front door of the machine is broken away to show the disposition of the roll of gummed label's.

Figure 2 is an end elcvatioral view of the machine look ing toward the end which is to the left in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is across sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2 illustrating the 'drive mechanism of the various elements of the machine. 7

Figure 4 is a cross sectionalview on line 44 of Figure 3 illustrating the details of the parts comprising the wind-up n' echanism.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on line 5'5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 3 illustrating the details of construction of the printing head.

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views showing the relative positions of thee-ants of the drive mechanism and the relative positions of the stripper, printing head, and wind-up mechanism in progressive positions during one cycle of operation. I I,

In addition to the printing and dispensing of strips of gummed labels, the machine disclosed in the drawings also is adapted to operate on jewelry tags and book tickets. The jewelry tags are small single panel, light cardboard tags which are affixed to goods by strings. The book tickets are made of the same material from which the jewelry tags are formed but comprise two panels which are doubled over one or the other. Both of these tags or tickets are provided by the manufacturer in roll form similar to the form in which gummed labels are provided and are fed through the machine on the same path followed by the gummed labels. However, the improvements disclosed here are directed primarily to gurnrned label operation of the machine. For this reason, the elements of the machine which are utilized only for either book ticket or jewelry tag operation are not described. The jewelry tags and book tickets are fed through the machine from a reel, not shown, which is mounted on the bracket 10 see Figure l of the drawings.

in general, the machine includes a base 1-1 on which the frame, indicated generally at 12, of the machine is mounted. The present machine is motor driven through aconventional cyclic operating clutch, the mechanism of which is enclosed in the housing :indicated generally at 13 in Figure 2. The cyclic operation of the present machine is somewhat similar to that of the machine disclosed in United States Patent Nos. 2,328,934, and 2,372,460, in which a counting mechanism is utilized for stopping the machine after a predetermined number of printing operations have been performed. in setting the machine for a particular number of printing operations, a counter, indicated generally at 14, is set at the desired number and the machine started by shifting a control lever 15 to engage the clutch between the motor and the drive mechanism-of the machine. The machine then continues to operate automatically until the desired number of labels are counted off at which time the count-off mechanism, in =returning to a zero position, trips 21 shutoff mechanism which 'disengages the clutch. This clutch maybe of the type shown in Patent No. 2,372,460 or other conventional types well known in the art. The counter may "be actuated from any'of the moving parts of the machine which operate cyclically,'once each time a label is printed. in the present disclosure, the counting mechanism is attached to the printing head (described later).

In general, the improved machine includes a table 16 over which the strips of labels are fed by means 'of feed fingers 17 to a printing station, indicated generallyat 18.

Attention isdirected to United States Patent to Frederick Kohnle, No. 2.27l,840, which discloses ahand cranked price tag marking machine similar in certain respects to it is inherent in marking machines of this type that the 'advancingmotion'of the feed fingers be intermittent in order that successive labels in the strip be presented to the printing station one at a time, with an interval between advances, in which the strip is stationary to receive the impression of price marking or other indicia. For feed purposes, the strip of labels indicated at T9 in the drawings includes feed finger notches 20 which arecut through the material of the strip between individuallab'els as shown in Figure 2 The labels which the "present machine is designed to operate'on are conventional and are pre- "and the fecd fingers.

vided in different widths and lengths according to the use to which they are put. Inasmuch as the feed finger notches are between labels, it will be obvious that the feed finger stroke of the machine must be adjusted to compensate for the different lengths of labels. That is, during any one feed stroke, the strip, no matter what length label is in it, must be indexed or advanced exactly the distance between feed finger notches in order that each label is presented in proper alignment with the printing means at the printing station. Thus, short labels are advanced a distance less than long labels. Such compensation means are known in the art and are disclosed in the above referred to patents.

The intermittent nature of the operating cycle and the variation of length of stroke does, however, create a problem concerning the present invention. Generally speaking, the invention is concerned with a combination of elements comprising three improvements in the present machine, namely, a new stripper mechanism 21, an improved printing head 22, and a new roll-up mechanism 23. It can be readily seen that if the strips of tags 19 are to be rolled up as they are dispensed from the machine, the roll-up mechanism must not only compensate for the increasing diameter on the roll-up spool but must also compensate for the different lengths of feed strokes provided by the feed finger 17 when different lengths of labels are being operated on. These three elements will be described in detail under separate headings first and then their cooperative functions described later.

Stripper mechanism rotatably journalled on the frame of the machine by means of a bolt 29. A stiff spring wire 30 engaging the serrations on the washer prevents inadvertent rotation of the element. This assembly provides means for changing the axis of rotation of lever 27 and thus it affords a fine adjustment for the throw of the feed fingers. The one arm 31 of the bellcrankis connected to the feed fingers as at 32. The other arm 33 of the bellcrank lever 27 carries a roller 34 which rides on cam 26. The arm 33 of lever 27 is urged by means of a spring 35 in order to provide continuous contact between the roller '34 and the cam 26.

The shaft 25 also carries an eccentrically mounted crank disc 36 which is keyed to the shaft. The eccentric disc 36 mounts a crank arm'37 which drives the printing head22, to be described later. The lower end of crank arm 37 is rounded 'on the center of'eccentric 36 and its reciprocating motion is utilized as a cam surface to drive 'a cam finger 40 for actuating the stripper 21. The cam finger 40 is pivotally mounted on the frame of the machine as at '41 and is provided with means for attaching a spring 42 for urging the cam finger into contact with the lower end 38 0f the crankarm 37. Thus, it will be observed from Figure 3 that when crank arm 37 reciprocates, cam finger 40 is swung up and down. At the pivot 41 of the cam finger, the finger is attached through the frame wall to the stripper 21, the stripper being on the forward side of the wall. The stripper comprises a length of heavy wire or the like which is bent downwardly abruptly from pivot 41 as at 43, Figure '1, and then turned in a gradual are at right angles to the point of pivot to extend in parallelism with'the cam finger 40. At the outer end,

the stripper is bent over and extends at right angles outwardly from the support wall to provide a label engaging portion 44.

The roll of labels is mounted on a hub 45 which also journals the forward end of the drive shaft 25. The hub is above and to the side of the pivot 41for'the stripper mechanism so that the stripper extends below the roll of labels with'the label engaging portion 44 of the stripper engaging the gummedside of the labels between the roll The strip '19-runs from this point through'an opening in the side of the'frame of themaonto the table 16 of'the'machine. A door 47 'is provided for the front of the machine to enclose the roll of gummed labels. The door has a conventional frictional catch 48 and on the inside may be provided with a roll retainer t510btoprevent the roll of laLels from slipping off of the The printing head The printing head, Figure 6, comprises in general a block 51 which is bolted to a slidable plate member 52.

vThe plate 52 is mounted in vertical ways milled in the frame of the machine and retained therein by a retainer plate 53, the plate, as shown in Figure 3, being affixed to the frame of the machine by means of the bolts 54. At the front of the block 51 the underside is milled out to provide ways for mounting a removable type chase 55, the chase being maintained in place by a leaf spring 56. The type indicated by 57 is mounted in the chase so that the imprinting ends of the type face downwardly. In the machine the type chase is mounted directly above a printing platen which is part of the table 16.

The upper end of the crank 37 is bent over at right angles as at 58, and this bent over end engaged in a niche 60 milled in the back face of the block 51. Inside the niche 60 a coil spring 61 is seated. The coil spring is operatively connected with an adjustment mechanism, indicated generally at 62, which is adapted to change the tension of the spring. Adjustment is accomplished by means of a nut- 63 which is threaded on the lower end of a bolt 64. The lower portion of the bolt is disposed inside the spring, and the nut 63 is counter-turned to provide a shoulder 65 which supports the lower end of spring 61. The lower end of the bolt is rounded and is'seated in a depression 66 formed in the bottom part of niche 60 and the upper end of the bolt 64 is provided with a knurled knob to facilitate turning of the bolt. the bolt extends from the upper surface of the block 51, a counterturned groove is provided, and this groove cooperates with a retainer plate 67 and a spring 68, which is disposed between the plate 67 and the knurled knob, to provide a friction brake to prevent inadvertent rotation of the adjustment bolt. When the bolt is rotated, the nut 63 in riding on the threaded portion changes the tension of spring 61. It will be seen that if the tension of spring 61 is increased, the force exerted on labels beneath the printing head wil be increased providing heavier and i consequently darker printing. When the spring is relaxed, of course, the printing force is lessened.

The spring 61 in niche 60 also provides a flexible connection between the crank arm 37 and the printing head 22 in order to translate the rocking motion at the top of the crank arm into direct line movement for the head. This particular function of the spring is described in the Kohnle Patent No. 2,271,840 referred to above.

Referring again to Figure 3, the disposition of the cam disc 37 is such that during one rotation of the drive shaft 25, the spring 61 is compressed during a substantial portion of the turning arc of cam disc 36. Thus, a dwell is provided and the printing head is maintained in contact with the strip of gummed labels of a substantial part of one cycle of the machine, or in other words, the spring and disposition of the cam disc provides a period of lost motion between the' crank arm and the printing head in which the printing head is clamped down onto the printing platen under the action of spring 61. This period of dwell will be described in more detail and correlated with the other parts of the machine in the description of the operation which follows.

The rewind mechanism The rewind mechanism is driven by means of a crank arm 70 which is actuated by cam plate 26, that is, the same cam which actuates the feed fingers. A cam roller 71 is carried at the cam engaging end of arm 70 and rolls on the cam surface of cam plate 26 Cam arm 70 is slotted longitudinally as at 72, and a stud 73 afiixed to the frame of the machine traverses this slot and pivotally supports the arm, permitting both swinging around the stud and longitudinal movement relative to the stud. At the inner end, the slot is enlarged into a round aperture to permit the installation of the crank arm over the large flat head 74 of stud 73. A coil spring 75 atlixed at the one end to stud 73 and at the other end to a pin 76 on the arm 70 urges the arm to the left as seen in Figure 3 in order to maintain roller 71 in contact with cam 26. p

The spool of the wind-up mechanism is mounted on a 6 bracket 77 which is affixed to the side of the frame of the machine at the discharge end, the bracket being fastened by bolts 78. The bracket includes a wall 80 which has a peripheral flange 81 extending around the three sides, excluding the side secured to the housing, and is provided with a cover plate 82. Made integrally with wall 80,

there is a hub or boss 83 which extends into the space inside of the bracket, and inside of the hub 83 a bronze sleeve 85 is press fitted. The spool mechanism is journalled in this sleeve. The sleeve 85 extends beyond the inner end of the bushing 83, and a crank plate 86 is journalled thereon. The crank plate 86 is connected to the crank arm 70 by means of a bolt connection shown at 87 in Figure 3. It can be seen that as crank arm 70 reciprocates under action of the cam plate 26, the crank plate 86 is swung back and forth on the journal provided by sleeve 85. Inside of sleeve 85 an arbor 88 is journalled. To the inside of the inner end of sleeve 85 a ratchet 89 is mounted on the arbor, the ratchet being keyed to the arbor as at 90. The ratchet 89 has peripheral teeth which are engageable by means of a pawl 91 which is rotatably carried on the crank plate 86 by a bolt 92. A spring 93 engaged over bolt 92 and having an end resting against bolt 87 on crank arm 70 and the other end on a pin 94 on the pawl 91 urges the pawl into engagement with the teeth on the ratchet wheel 89. Therefore, when crank arm 70 is reciprocated, the pawl and ratchet connection to the arbor 88 rotates the arbor intermittently and in one direction only, the direction being clockwise as shown in Figure 3. I

The spool of the wind-up mechanism is made in two parts which are detachable one from the other. One of these parts comprises a plate 95 which carries a center pin 96 journalled in a central bore 97 extending axially into the outer end of arbor 88. A spring washer 99 seated in a groove at the inner end of pin 96 engages with the inside of bore 97 to retain the pin frictionally in the arbor. The outer end of pin 96 is provided with a knurled knob 100 for handling the outer half of the spool. At four spaced points in a circle around the plate 95, and spaced inwardly from the periphery, a series of pins are provided. These pins are disposed in groups of two, the two pins in each instance being seated at two points aligned radially from pin 96 and spaced slightly to provide a slot 103 between them. The inner pin 104 of each set of two is shorter than the outer pin 105 and serves as a spacer for the outer plate 95 of the spool and the identical inner plate 106 which constitutes the other half of the spool. The inner plate 106 includes a series of bores 107 in alignment with the respective outer pins 105 so that the pins 105 extend through plate 106. The respective outer pins thus cooperate to provide a web on which the strip of labels may be wound, with the inner pins providing means for fastening the end of the strip of labels as shown at 108, the end of the strip being slipped through space 103 between the respective pins of a pair with the end doubled back on the strip. See Figure 5.

At the outer end of the arbor 88, a washer 110 is afiixed by means of swaging over the outer end of a counterturned sleeve portion 98 to provide an annular flange 111. The washer 110 engages against the outer face of spool plate 106, and just inwardly of the washer, plate 106 is rotatably journalled on the arbor 88. On the inner side of plate 106 a disc 112 of leather or similar material is placed, and this disc in cooperation with a similar disc 113 which is placed against the outer face of the bracket wall 80, annularly of arbor 88, in connection with a clutch plate 114, slidably keyed to arbor 88 between the two discs 112 and 113, provides a frictional drive between the arbor and the spool.

The pressure between the clutch plate and the leather discs may be adjusted by means of an adjusting bolt 115. This bolt is threaded into the inner end of the arbor 88 and carries a knurled knob 116 having a counter-turned :shoulder 117 on the inner face thereof. Another bolt 118 also threaded in the knob 116, in abutting with"the outer end of bolt 115, provides a lock which prevents inadvertent turning of the knob 116. A spring 119 surrounds bolt and is disposed between shoulder 117 and a washer 120 riding on the arbor and against ratchet 89. The spring 119 in effect tends to draw washer 110 against the inner face of spool plate 106. Thus, by

vtightening bolt 116 and therefore compressing spring 119,

the frictional contact between clutch plate 114 and the .friction discs 112113 may drive connection between the clutch and the wind-up spool, whereas disc 113 on bracket 'wa'll'30 prevents overrun of clutch plate 114. Inasmuch'as thepresent machine is designed to operate at a high rate of speed, the rotative inertia given the arbor assembly in each drive impulse of crank arm "It; is 'fairly substantial. In order that the relationship of the pawl and'ratchct is not varied from stroke to stroke, the ratchet, arbor,'and clutch plate assembly is braked by the leather disc 113.

The two parts of the Wind-up mechanism; "that is, the two plates 95 and 1%, may be detached by grasping the knurled knob HM) and pulling the pin 96 from its seat within the bore 97, since pin '96 is retained inside bore 97 by friction only. Thus, when the pin '96 is pulled from the bore, the pins 104 and 1%, comprising the web on outer plate 95, are withdrawn from plate 106, and the rolled up strip is carried with plate 95. As seen in Figure 5, the strip may then be removed from the web by simply sliding it off the exposed ends of'the pins 105. The labels are thus in a conveniently handled form .in which individual labels may be'torn from the strip as the labels are being applied to the goods.

Operation The operation of the machine is cyclic. During each cycle, the feed finger mechanism is actuated through the bell-crank lever 27 to reciprocate once, .that'is, the feed fingers advance and then retract. During the advancing motion, the strip of labels is indexed a distance equal to the distance between feed finger notches. In going forward in the advancing direction, the feed fingers engage in one of the notches and carry the strip forward to a point where a label is in alignment with the printinghead, and on the retracting motion the feed fingers withdraw to a point to the rear of the next successive feed finger notch atop the label two removed from the one just advanced to the printing station. At the time when the feed fingers are in the advanced position, an inking pad indicated at 121 (Figure l), raises and inks the type carried by the printing head. The inking operation is described in Patent No. 2,271,840. After the inking operation, the feed fingers retract, and the printing head starts down. At the moment that the type engages the label strip, both the stripper and the rewind mechanism start their cycles. By reason of the disposition of the crank disc and'its relationship to the crank arm, plus the lost motion spring 61, the head remains down on the strip for approximately one-fourth of a revolution of shaft 25. After this period of dwell, the printing head again lifts and the cycle is complete.

During the period of dwell when the printing head is on the strip of labels, the strip is eliectively clamped against endwise movement. During this time, the stripper is actuated to draw off of the roll a loop of material between the roll and the feed fingers. The loop is formed by the stripper swinging down under the action of cam finger 4-9, as shown in the progressive diagrammatic views 7, 8 and 9. In Figure 7, the printing head has just moved down on top of the strip. At this time, the feed fingers are inactive. The crank arm 37, however, is being lowered by the eccentric cam disc 36 and spring 61 in the printing head is compressing, thus holding the printing head on the strip of labels with a force proportionate to the tension of spring 61. At the time when the printing head first contacts the strip of labels, the lower edge 38 of crank arm 37 contacts cam finger 40, and the finger swings down during the dwell period of the head. Thus, the loop is created in the strip at a time when the strip is retained against endwise movement and the relationship of the feed finger notches in the strip to the feed fingers is not disturbed. In Figure 8, the stripper is approaching its lower limit and in Figure 9, the printing head is rising, the feed fingers are starting their forward motion to advance the strip and the stripper is being raised. The stripper rises faster than the feed fingers take the slack out of the strip, so that the feed fingers are at all times pulling a slack strip. The feed finger notches are not very wide, and if the stripper mechanism operatedwith the feed fingers engaged in the notches, there would be a'tendency for the feed fingers to tear through the notches or at least start a progressive tear" at the lines of weakening between labels. The printing head, since it carries a number of pieces of type, contacts-the strip in a greater area than the single'contact point of the feed'fingers, and thus, during the stripping motion, the pull of the stripper on the strip is counteracted by a broad line of contact points extending substantially the full width of the strip.

At the same time that the stripper is operating, that is," during the dwell period of'the printing head, the

wind-up mechanism also is operating. Referring to Figure 7 which shows the start of the wind-up movement, it will be seen that the crank arm '70 is moving to the right, and the pawl and ratchet assembly is starting to rotate arbor 88. There is slack in the label strip between the printing head and the spool at this time which was created by the preceding advance operation of the feed fingers upon the strip; or in other words, between the printing head and the spool, the strip is slack to the extent of one label length. As the crank arm 70 continues to move and the pawl and ratchet assembly continues to rotate arbor 88, the spool assembly rotates and the slack is taken out of the strip between the spool and the head. The rotation ofithe arbor is;designed to be great enough. to wind up .the'spool to .a degree which being directly related to the force placed on the clutch by reason of the setting of spring 119. For example, if a very short label type strip is being operated on, the first part of the rotation of the arbor takes out the slack, the .spool traveling with the arbor. The rest of the rotation of the arbor results in a slipping in the clutch merely placing tension on the strip. If a long run of labels is being printed and dispensed, as the spool fills up, the increasing diameter also changes the relationship between the positive feed period and the slip period, the slipping period getting greater as the diameter grows. Consequently, the teeth on the ratchet 89 should be spaced so that the spool is turned a sulficient amount to take all of the slack out Of'the strip between the head and the spool whenthe longest label type strip is first started onto the reel.

The tension exerted on the strip duringthe latter part of the rotation of the arbor maintainsthe rolled up strip on the web of the wind-up mechanism in 'a'tight condition so that when the roll is removed from the web, it is compact and thus easily handled. The degreeof tension placed on the web during the latterpart of the rotation of thearbor is, of course, directly proportional to the tension of spring 119 as reflected inthe frictional engagement in clutch plate 114. The strip is fairlyeasily torn at the lines or weakening between labels and the tension should be adjusted accordingly; that is, it should be balanced so as to maintain the rolled up strip in a compact form, but not so great as to cause breakage of the strip during the tensioning movement.

By reason of the stripper and the Wind-up mechanism, the operation of the present machine may be stepped up to a higher rate of speed than has heretofore been possible. First of all, the slack producing mechanism insures that the labels are'not torn at the lines'of weakening during the advancing motion, thelong dwell of the printing head insures that the strip is not displaced endwise during the stripping and wind-up operations, and then the wind-up makes it possible to process long runs or labels and have them available in a conveniently handled form.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a marking machine adapted to printand dispense a strip of labels-of the type provided in a roll, the strip being intermittently advanced stepwise to aprinting station by reciprocating feed means disposed between said roll and said printing station, the combination of a stripper adapted to create a looselyhanging loop of slack in the strip between'the'roll andthe feed means in an amount greater than anindividual'stepwise advance of the strip by said feed means, an intermittently operable strip rewind mechanism adapted to reroll the strip as it issues from the printing station, a printing head at the printing stationadapted to impress the strip and thereby restrain 'it'against endwise motion relative to the printing station, and means to drive the elements of the combination in unison and only between successive reciprocations of said feed means.

2. In a marking machine adapted to print and dispense a strip of labels of the type provided in a roll, the strip being intermittently advanced stepwise to a printing station by reciprocating feed means disposed between said roll and said printing station, the combination of a stripper adapted to create a loosely hanging loop of slack in the strip between the roll and the feed means in an amount greater than an individual stepwise advance of the strip by said feed means, an intermittently operating strip rewind mechanism adapted to reroll the strip as it issues from the printing station, and a printing head at the printing station adapted to impress the strip and thereby restrain it against endwise movement relative to the printing station, the elements of the combination being operated by cam means mounted upon a common drive shaft, said cam means being arranged to operate the elements of the combination in unison and only between successive recrprocatrons of said feed means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,039,212 Sullivan Sept. 24, 1912 1,108,619 Poland Aug. 25, 1914 1,297,587 Nordstrom Mar. 18, 1919 1,331,579 Rosenfeld Feb. 24, 1920 1,826,498 Bignell Oct. 6, 1931 1,941,597 Cavagnaro Jan. 2, 1934 2,271,840 Kohnle Feb. 3, 1942 2,328,934 Turner Sept. 7, 1943 2,372,460 Turner Mar. 27, 1945 

